S/4Hana to Akeneo PIM accelerator architecture, feature coverage

Summary

Data Flow Diagram, Logical Flow

The overall logic is to filter and send data from SAP to the Integration Suite, then do the mapping and send it to the Akeneo PIM. The accelerator eases the mapping and synchronization part. The entire logic is described in this page for ease of usage. The accelerator needs to be used in the integration suite and kickstart the entire 

Data Flow Details:

  1. Source: SAP S/4HANA triggers data output (on create/change) via outbound IDoc or service call. (Out-of-scope - not included in the package) 
  2. Middleware: iFlows in SAP Integration Suite parse the incoming structure, map to the target API schema, and handle routing. Included in the package
  3. Target: The processed Material Master data is sent to the PIM system's exposed API. Included in the package

System Landscape

System Role Integration Type Location
SAP S/4HANA Source system for Material Master data Data provider On-premise / Cloud
SAP Integration Suite (BTP) Integration & transformation layer Middleware (iFlow-based) - the accelerator is used in the Integration Suite SAP BTP (Cloud Foundry)
Akeneo PIM Target system consuming Material data External API endpoint External Cloud / SaaS

Additionally,  for onPrem systems, it is recommended to add an SAP Cloud connector:

System Role Integration Type Location
SAP Cloud Connector (optional) Secure tunnel for on-premise S/4HANA Connectivity agent On-premise

More details

SAP S/4HANA (Source System)

  1. Source of truth for Material Master data.
  2. Data is exposed via:
    1. IDoc (if traditional interface is used)
    2. OData or API services (for more modern or RESTful scenarios)
  3. Typically connected via SAP Cloud Connector or via public endpoints (if whitelisted securely). 

This part is not handled by the accelerator.

 
 

Connectors and Middleware Components

  1. SAP Cloud Connector (if on-premise S/4HANA is used)
  2. Open Connectors or custom APIs (for 3rd-party REST/SOAP integrations)
  3. Message Queuing or Eventing (if asynchronous model is used, e.g., via Event Mesh)

This part is not handled by the accelerator.

 
 

SAP Integration Suite (Core Integration Layer)

  1. Acts as the central middleware for data orchestration and transformation.
  2. Hosted on SAP BTP environment.
  3. Contains multiple iFlows designed to:
    1. Receive Material Master data from SAP S/4HANA.
    2. Transform and map data as needed.
    3. Push data to the third-party system, Akeneo PIM, via appropriate protocols.

The accelerator is used within the Integration Suite

 
 

iFlows (Integration Flows)

  1. Deployed in SAP Integration Suite.
  2. Each iFlow is responsible for:
    1. Handling a specific part of Material Master (e.g., Basic Data, Plant Data, Storage Data).
    2. Processing data in real-time or in batch mode.
    3. Managing transformation, routing, logging, and error handling.

The accelerator is a package composed on iFlows

 
 

Akeneo PIM (Target System)

  1. Product Experience Management platform used for managing or extending Material data operations.
  2. Receives Material Master data through:
    1. REST APIs
    2. Requires authentication (Basic Auth in the package)
 
 

 

Integration Patterns

Synchronization compatibility

The accelerator is compatible with several type of synchronization. You can adapt it according to your business needs.

Pattern Implementation Detail
Real-time  Triggered via change pointers / IDoc / event mechanisms
Batch  Scheduled iFlows polling or retrieving Material data
Async handling  Can use Event Mesh or queue-based delivery if needed

Transformation Logic (at iFlow Level)

The accelerator proposes the standard message mapping capabilities and transformation:

  1. Field-level mapping between S/4HANA IDoc segments and third-party API schema.
  2. Unit conversions (e.g., internal vs. external UoM codes).
  3. Truncation, default values, or enrichment logic as needed.

Security & Authentication

System Security Mechanism Notes
SAP S/4HANA Basic Auth / Certificate Cloud Connector tunnel if on-prem
Integration Suite → Akeneo PIM Token (based on OAuth2 & Basic Auth) Token-based preferred for REST APIs
Data at Rest (temporary) Encrypted Storage CPI message stores (short-term only)
Transport Security HTTPS / TLS 1.2+ Mandatory end-to-end

 

Integration segment

  1. Role-based access control implemented on SAP BTP for iFlow deployment and monitoring.
  2. Audit Logs enabled via SAP BTP for traceability.

 

Error Handling Mechanisms

Error Handling

The SAP accelerator provides robust error handling beyond the standard capabilities of the integration suite. Exception subprocesses are used within each iFlow to capture both technical and logical failures. When an error occurs, a detailed message is logged to the Message Monitor. This log includes the error message, a sanitized snapshot of the payload, the timestamp, and the iFlow ID. The accelerator is also configured to handle common issues like connectivity errors, target system timeouts, authentication failures, and data mapping failures. For certain transient errors, an automatic retry mechanism using a Timer event is available. Additionally, integrators can configure optional alerts to be sent via email, Slack, or the SAP Alert Notification Service for immediate  notification.

Handled Scenarios  
Connectivity errors  target system timeout
Mapping failures  unexpected data types or missing fields
Authentication failures expired tokens
Mapping transformation failures (common)  

 

Success and Logging

Upon successful completion of a process, the logs are stored in the Message Monitor for future reference. The accelerator also manages automatic retries for certain failures using a JMS (Java Message Service) queue, ensuring that messages are reprocessed without manual intervention.

 

The accelerator - feature coverage

The accelerator covers mapping and synchronization.The package has been conceived to handled the main use cases: synchronizing attributes and creating or updating products. 

All the structural data needs to be pre-existing. There are no creation except from the values and the product. 

Attribute types Availability
Identifier  Available
UUID and SKUs optional  Available
Price  Available
Text  Available
Multi-select

Available
single select

Available
Measurement

Available
Text, Text area

Available
Number

Available
Images, files, asset

No
Reference entitity

No
Features available  
Filtering

No

 
Mapping

Yes

Message mapping 
Transformation

Yes

Message mapping 

Product deletion 

 

 No
Product creation and update

Yes

 
Pre-existing catalog structuration in PIM Mandatory
Full synchronization Yes
Delta or differential synchronization

No
Manual synchronization Yes
Scheduled synchronization Yes
Synchronization logs

Yes

Default in the integration Suite
Monitoring 

Yes

Default in the integration Suite

 

 

 

 

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